Corporal George Miller Curtis, U.S. Army Air Forces [July 19, 1919 –
June 19, 1942] was born to George Wright Curtis [November 25, 1889 –
March 18, 1987] and Ethlyn Verle (Miller) Curtis [October 21, 1891 –
May 4, 1971] at Palacios, Matagorda County, Texas. As a small boy
he was baptized into the Methodist Church. He graduated from
Palacios high School with the Class of 1937, and was a strong
football player; was in the Boy Scouts, and was just shy of making
Eagle Scout. Attended Texas College of Arts and Industries at
Kingsville, and while there became a member of the Texas National
Guard. He joined the regular Army in infantry in 1939, and later
was transferred to the Army Air Forces, receiving training at
Barksdale Field, LA and Savannah, GA. He was united in marriage to
Miss Avis Gregory of Palacios on April 14, 1941. He sailed with the
27th Bomb Group for Manila, Philippine Islands in October
1941 where he
was attached to the Far East Air Force (FEAF), which was the
predecessor of the 5th Air Force. Initially FEAF also
included aircraft and personnel of the Philippine Army Air Corps,
and it was largely destroyed during the Battle of the Philippines
(1941-42). The planes for the 27th
Bomb Group were enroute to the Philippines and had stopped at Fiji
Islands - they were ordered to go to Australia - so the 27th
never received their aircraft. Efforts were made to evacuate their
pilots and navigators to Australia by way of Mindano, and
Headquarters FEAF accompanied those who were able to get out. The
men who remained were given three days of infantry training, and
used as ad hoc infantry units* in the defense of the Bataan
Peninsula between January 7th and April 9th,
1942. On January 7th, the Provisional Air Corps Regiment
was formed by combining elements of the different Air Corps units
into a cohesive infantry unit consisting of two battalions.
George’s unit, the 27th Bombardment Group (light), which
had been at Clark Field, was mustered into the 2nd
battalion. In its’ brief life, the Provisional Air Corps Regiment
served on front line duty fighting the Japanese from inception to
surrender. The bulk of the weary, starving and emaciated American
and Filipino survivors, after General E. P. King, Jr. surrendered to
the Japanese on the morning of April 9th, perished
individually during the ensuing three and a half years of Japanese
captivity. Of the 880 +/- airmen of the 27th who were
taken prisoner, less than half survived captivity. George survived
the brutal 60 mile Bataan Death March, he survived being crammed
into a small boxcar with many other men (similar to the Jews going
to the concentration camps in Europe), and he survived his stay at
Camp O’Donnell under very hard and inhuman conditions. The
prisoners would line up once a day for water; men were weak and
dying from dysentery and beriberi and they were being horrifically
treated. He was finally incarcerated at Cabanatuan Prison Camp
(concentration camp). It was there on June 19, 1942 he died and was
buried in a temporary cemetery near the prison. Eventually, many of
the prisoners who had not died, would be transferred to camps
outside of the Philippines. After his parents declined to have his
remains repatriated to the United States c. 1948/49 he was
re-interred at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio,
Manila, Philippines, Plot L; Row 10; Grave 21. At the time of his
death he was survived by his wife Avis; parents George and Ethlyn;
his sister Dorothy Lea and brothers: Marvin Lloyd and Noel Dewees.

* Military basic
training today introduces all incoming personnel to the fundamental
concepts of infantry procedures.

MEMORIAL SERVICES HELD SUN. FOR
PALACIOS SOLDIER WHO DIED IN PHILIPPINES

George M. Curtis

A Memorial Service for George M.
Curtis, son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Curtis, 3rd street,
Palacios, was held in the Methodist Church on last Sunday
afternoon at 3:00 o'clock. He was serving in the Philippines
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. There was a
representative attendance, which included Mrs. George M. Curtis,
her mother Mrs. Gregory, one brother, three sisters from Edinburg, all the near relatives of the deceased, and many other
friends of the family. The meeting was opened by the reading of
scripture by Rev. Laurence Greenhaw, pastor of the Church. A
Hymn was sung, and Rev. L. W. Crouch, pastor of the Baptist
Church led in prayer. At the request of the relatives, Rev. J.
E. Mack, former pastor of the Methodist Church here, addressed
the congregation. Among other verses from the Gospel of St. John
he chose the following: "Now I am no more in the world, but
these are in the world; and I come to Thee. As I am in the
world, so are ye in the world. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was about
to go out into the Garden of Gethsemane and to the cross, and to
give His life for the sins of the whole world. The young men in
this war have given their lives, and are giving them for
freedom--freedom of religion, of assemblages, and of the press.
He spoke of our American inheritance, and the cost, through the
centuries, of the priceless blessings of civilization. The
members of the early Church as recorded in the book of Acts,
were willing, in the very presence of threatening power, to
forfeit their lives for freedom to testify, to the power of God,
and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (Acts 4, vv. 19-20). It
has always been so. This tragic war is a struggle for an open
Bible and the soul of man, not for his mind and body only, but
for his soul. When we think of democracy, we are accustomed to
think only of political democracy, but the word in American
history has meant far more than this; it has meant the love of
home, the establishment of high schools and colleges, the love
of learning and of culture, the love of books, poetry, and
music. For these mercies and blessings and many others, men have
been willing to die. And so George M. Curtis had given his life
on the altar of sacrifice. Rev. Mack spoke with much feeling of
his knowledge of George M. Curtis and his young wife, while he
was pastor in Palacios, and those who are left behind to carry
on.

Rev. George Gillespie read the
following: George Miller Curtis was born in Palacios, Texas,
July 19th 1919, and gave his life June 19, 1942, in the
Philippines. He graduated from Palacios High School with the
class of 1937. He took a deep interest in football, and played
on the high school team. He was also deeply interested in Boy
Scout work and was within a few merits of being an Eagle Scout.
He attended the Texas College of Arts and Industries at
Kingsville, and while there became a member of the Texas
National Guard. He joined the regular army, infantry, in 1939,
and later was transferred to the Army Air Corps. He received his
Air Corps training at Barksdale Field, La., and Savannah Air
Base, Savannah, Ga. He was united in marriage to Avis Gregory in
Palacios on April 14th, 1941. He sailed from the States, Oct.
1941, with the 27th Bomb Group, for Manila, Philippine Islands.
He was with General MacArthur's men on Bataan, of whom General
McArthur said when leaving: "I shall never forget the vision of
those grim, gaunt, valiant men, I shall return." He returned on
October 20th, 1944. The last word received from George M. Curtis
was a radiogram from Cebu March 14, 1942. He had, however,
written a letter in February, 1942, which was not received
until August.

As a small boy he was baptized and
became a member of the Methodist Church.

The following is from the U. S.
Government to his wife and relatives:―

Citation of Honor United States Army
Air Forces

Corporal George M. Curtis

who gave his life in the performance of his
duty July 1, 1944.

He lived to bear his country's arms. He
died to save its honor. He was a soldier...and he knew a
soldier's duty. His sacrifice will help to keep aglow the
flaming torch that lights our lives...that millions yet unborn
may know the priceless joy of liberty. And we who pay him homage
and revere his memory, in solemn pride rededicate ourselves to a
complete fulfillment of the task for which he so gallantly has
placed his own life upon the altar of man's freedom.

H. H. Arnold,
Commanding General, Army Air Forces

Rev. George F. Gillespie, who had known
George M. Curtis since he was a child spoke of his friendship
with him throughout all the years. Like many boys in their late
teens, he was weak and uncertain about his future, and his
destiny. When he joined the army he seemed to come into the
fullness of his manhood. The various exercises in the gymnasium,
the discipline, the hardship, the mental training through
obedience and in other ways, gave him the qualities that he
needed. He was happy in his new home life, and told the speaker
in his last conversation with him that he intended to make the
army his career. St. Paul said in his last letter to his young
friend Timothy, the last letter he ever wrote: "Take thou my
share of hardship along with me as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ." George M. Curtis took his share of hardship on Bataan
and Corregidor, and gave his life for God, for country, for
freedom, and for us. He has entered into a richer and fuller
life in the many mansioned home.

Rev. Gillespie used as his Scripture
passages the 73rd Psalm and St. John ch. 12, v 24. He told the
story of the writer of the Psalm as given in its verses and
pleaded with his hearers to keep at all costs their own personal
faith. He mentioned Phillips Brooks' sermon on this Psalm, taken
from vv 16 and 17, with the theme: "The sanctuary of God, the
place of solved problems." He asked his hearers to memorize vv
23-26 which he called on of the noblest and loftiest and holiest
utterances in all of the Old Testament. The speaker also drew
some lessons from St. John ch. 12, v 24--"Verily, verily, I say
unto you. Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone: but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit."
He said that during all his life his own favorite foreign
missionary had always been Henry Martyn, who died at the early
age of 31 in the Arabian desert--with no one near him but a
native attendant--not a single intimate friend to smooth his
dying pillow. He was a brilliant scholar, with a weak body, and
his life had been beset by keen sorrow, and trials, and
sufferings. It has been said that the story of his life has sent
more men and women to the foreign field than any other
missionary biography that was ever written. So that age hasn’t
much to do with 'that most precious thing in life'--influence.
And so with George M. Curtis, and all these other young men from
our district--they will live forever in the memory of their
friends. The speaker closed by reading a beautiful little poem
written by a woman in England during the first World War. It
describes young men leaving college to go to the war. The last
verse is;

"God rest you, happy gentlemen

Who laid your good lives down,

Who took the khaki and the gun,

Instead of cap and gown,

God send you to a fairer clime

Than even Oxford town."

The meeting closed with a hymn and a
benediction.

Palacios Beacon,
Thursday, June 7, 1945

Ethlyn Verle Curtis

Mrs. Ethlyn Verle Curtis, a
Palacios resident for 62 years, passed away at 8:05 Tuesday evening
May 4 at Wagner General Hospital where she had been confined for
many months.

A daughter of the late Mr.
and Mrs. M. M. Miller she was born October 21, 1891, in Barton,
North Dakota. Until a few years ago she assisted her husband, George
Wright Curtis, in operating their grocery store. She was a member of
the Palacios Chapter 125 Order of the Eastern Star, the First United
Methodist Church and was an honorary member of the Wednesday Club.

She was preceded in death by
a son, George M. who was killed in World War II in the Philippines.

Funeral services were held
at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 6, at the First United Methodist Church
with the Rev. T. Irving King, Jr. and Rev. Charles Simpson
officiating. Interment was in the Palacios Cemetery.

She is survived by her
husband, one daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Pease of San Antonio; two sons,
Marvin and Noel "Potsy" of Palacios; one brother, James Miller of
Houston, and five grandchildren.

Palacios Beacon, May 12,
1971

CURTIS

Funeral services for George
Wright Curtis, 97, of Palacios will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at
First United Methodist Church of Palacios with the Rev. Doug Blanton
officiating. Burial will be in Palacios Cemetery.

Mr. Curtis was born Nov. 25,
1889, in Sabina, Ohio, to Harrison and Alpha R. Wright Curtis and
died March 18, 1987, at Leisure Lodge Nursing Home in Palacios.

A resident of Palacios since
1910, he was a member of the First United Methodist Church of
Palacios.

Survivors include a
daughter, Dorothy Lee Pease of San Antonio; a son Marvin L. Curtis
of Palacios; seven grandchildren; and three great grandchildren.

The home of Mr.
and Mrs. M. M. Miller, on Morton Avenue, was the scene of a most
beautiful home wedding Sunday morning at 8 o’clock, when their
eldest daughter, Miss Evelyn Verle, was united to marriage to Mr.
Geo. W. Curtis, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Curtis, all residents of
Palacios. At the hour set the young couple unattended, marched down
the stairs to the parlor to the strains of Wagner’s Bridal Chorus
from “Lohengrin,” played on the piano by Mrs. R. G. Palmer, and took
their place under a white bell suspended in a prettily decorated
nook in the southwest corner of the room, where Rev. Bristor, pastor
of the Christian church, performed the beautiful ring ceremony in a
most impressive manner, and which was witnessed by the parents of
both the bride and bridegroom, and Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Nash,
grandparents of the bride, Miss Dell Miller and Mr. Glen Miller, her
sister and brother, and Messrs. and Mesdames A. J. Tatum, T. L.
Huffman, R. G. Palmer, John Bentler, D. L. Stump, Mrs. J. P. Green,
Mrs. P. F. Arnold and daughter Miss Lura, Mr. O. C. Arnold and Mr.
Raymond Tatum. Immediately after the ceremony the bridal party and
guests were seated at a sumptuously laden table, and partook of a
most inviting and bountiful wedding breakfast.

The bride,
always most charming, was particularly lovely in a beautiful costume
of white crepe du chein, carrying a boquet of white roses and
evergreen, the groom appearing in the conventional black. The parlor
and dining room were beautifully decorated with white roses and
evergreen.

At noon Mr. and
Mrs. Curtis were taken to Blessing by auto where they boarded the
Brownsville train for Houston and Galveston on a short honeymoon
expecting to return that night or today. The announcement cards say
they will be home after Dec. 1st, by which time the elegant double
home being built by the groom and his father on Pavilion street,
will be completed.

The splendid
young couple are among the best known and most popular young people
of the city, and further introduction by the Beacon would be
unnecessary. They are well-known to all our people, and it is a
pleasure to say that all who know them are their friends and
admirers, and who join with us in wishing Mr. and Mrs. Curtis
unbounded joy, long life and prosperity, and all other good things
essential to the making of their married life entirely happy and
complete.